


And Now I See

by WrittenFire



Series: Whumptober 2019: Mcdanno Style [10]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Hallucinations, M/M, POV Outsider, Protective Danny "Danno" Williams, Steve McGarrett whump, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:35:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25942231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrittenFire/pseuds/WrittenFire
Summary: During a monthly drill at Pearl, Steve slips into a hallucination and they call in Danny Williams to help bring him out.
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Series: Whumptober 2019: Mcdanno Style [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1503434
Comments: 13
Kudos: 194





	And Now I See

**Author's Note:**

> The discord I'm a part of now has been freaking _great_ for my writing process! I finished this a couple days ago, and finally buckled down to figure out the summary and tags lol Those are my least favorite things when it comes to posting my fic, ugh. A big thanks once again to [piratefalls](https://piratefalls.tumblr.com/) for giving it a look over!
> 
> Day 22: Hallucination.

Today was going to be a  _ great  _ day. The very air was abuzz with anticipation, excited whispers abounding around the Naval base. Once a month, Commander McGarrett would spend a weekend on base, helping out in training the newer recruits. Chris had been at Pearl for three months now, and had quickly learned that Commander McGarrett weekends were the most highly anticipated of them all. 

In his time on base, Chris had only seen the Commander once. He had just been transferred that first time, and just in time for McGarrett’s weekend. They had been showing him around base at the time so he hadn’t participated, but just a glimpse of the man leading drills had been eye opening. The following week he made a point of asking around, hoarding even the smallest details about the man. 

He was on Reserves, they said, and working with the island's task force; his partner was a short blonde from New Jersey, and the two were hardly ever seen without each other. Having the Commander on base was a treat, because he was an advocate for hands-on teaching and often they found themselves learning more with his off-track leading then with other officers who stuck to the rules. After drills, McGarrett would hang around and chat, talking about his time served and some of the cases he’d worked with his new team. 

With every additional story, either from the Commander himself or those who had heard them secondhand, Chris found himself unsure of Commander McGarrett’s new partner; the image he got was of a man who was a grump, unable to adjust to the islands, and while a good cop, not very worthy of his position on what was widely considered to be an elite team. 

During his second month the Commander was unable to join them for his usual weekend, embroiled as he was in a case his team was investigating. It was a let down, but everyone understood. Rumors made their way around: something had gone wrong during the case, and that whatever had happened was his partners fault; hearing that only further cemented his certainty that the Commander needed a new partner, someone that actually appreciated the great man they were working with. 

To Chris’ surprise,few felt the same. He hadn’t intended to mention his opinion, but it did come up during dinner one night. Most everyone responded with nothing but good things to say about McGarrett’s partner, but there were a few that spoke up in agreement with him. Everyone told them they just had to wait, to meet the man in person to see why they were wrong. Chris doubted a meeting would change anything, but he was willing to hold back his thoughts and wait until he could get a first hand experience. 

He figured that chance would happen sometime in the near future, considering how often other officers had seen them while spending time off base. Chris never thought that he would meet the man for the first time on base, in a room where the air was so tense he swore he could feel it, like a heavy weight he could not escape. The day had been going so well; the Commander showed up, they went through their drills, had lunch and were pleasantly surprised by receiving the opportunity to observe as the Commander and a select few ran through the newly released track. 

Gas was being released in select stages, a diluted version of a new knock out formula the scientist on base had been working on. Everything should have been fine, but somehow, a component didn’t agree with the Commander and everything fell into chaos.

At first, everything seemed fine. No one could say that they noticed a change in his stance, because he, like everyone, treated the drills as seriously as they would an actual mission. They couldn't even say that they noticed the change in his mental state, because the Commander addressed them all by rank. No, it wasn't until he started yelling out orders that didn’t pertain to their drill, his partners name spilling out of his mouth with the most heart wrenching terror that they finally noticed things had gone to hell.

When they finally did, it was too late to do anything effectively. They tried to bring him back to reality, but it was clear he was hallucinating something fierce and not one of them could reach him. The first person to try and physically lead the Commander out of the range and to a safer location was met with what, from a distance, looked like a beautiful but deadly dance that ended with the person in question out cold at his feet. 

From there it descended into chaos; while some of them directed the Commander away from their downed officer, another group rushed in to get said officer to medical. During it all the Commander continued calling his partners name, fighting an enemy only he could see. Chris was with him, doing his best to follow the Commanders lead and hoping that the higher ups would figure  _ something  _ out. 

He lost track of time after that; it felt like hours before a commotion at the entrance caught their attention, a loud voice yelling profanities that drew even the Commander’s attention. The wave of sound hit a crescendo, getting closer and closer to them instead of away. It brought to mind memories of his school days, of being in band; he could just envision the conductor, the wild strikes of his arms as the wave of sound burst onto the scene. 

What happened next is something he’ll never forget; it not only changed his mind but rearranged what he considered to be fundamental truths. At the front of the pack of noise was a man, a blonde on the shorter side, and even from a distance the blues of his eyes seemed ablaze. The man sidestepped every high ranking officer, gracefully moving around the maze of the course, as if these unmovable objects were malleable and needed only a nudge to get out of his way. Before Chris could even think about stepping between him and the Commander, to consider even adding his voices to those already objecting, the man was there, calling out the Commander’s name.

“Steve!” Chris could only watch in stunned disbelief; the call of his name drew the Commander’s attention, his head snapping to the direction of his voice. “Steve, babe, I’m here.  _ I’m here. _ ”

“Danny?”  _ This  _ was Danny? This short compact figure of a man? “Oh god, Danny, are you ok?” The Commander stumbled— _ stumbled _ —his way to his partner, eyes darting about, looking for unseen enemies as he gently tugged him to safety. He patted him down, hands pressing firmly on Detective Williams’ side. “Fuck, Danny, you’ll be ok. We’ll get out of here.”

Detective Williams face visibly softened at the action; between that and the words, Chris had the feeling he knew exactly where the Commander was, in his delusions. 

“I’m ok, babe. I promise. We got out and taken care of,” He shifts in the Commander’s hold, sure hands easing the gun from him and handing it off to the first person he sees—which just so happens to be Chris. Taking it in his hand he turns the safety on, watching as Detective Williams guides the Commander through to the end of the track, hands locked as they make their way down to medical. 

Chris watched them leave, surprised at the ease in which the Detective diffused the situation. Maybe those rumors about the closeness between the two, of how much they meant to each other, were true after all. He had never seen someone get through to someone so physically compromised that easily; the level of trust they must have between them, for Detective Williams to get through to the Commander… 

He could only hope to find that with someone someday. He vows that the next time someone talks about the Commander and his partner, he would join in the positive side. For from the little he saw that day, theirs was a partnership—a  _ relationship _ —to strive for. 

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to do a Steve POV but seeing it from an outside perspective just _screamed_ at me. And I enjoyed it! Let me know what you think, and thanks for reading! 
> 
> ps I hate tagging things and if you ever think of one that I missed and should add, just let me know!


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